iiber 10, 191S 



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Government Bulletin on Elms 



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The Forest Service has published bulletin 683, comiiiled by W. 

 D. Brush. The bulletin deals with the elms which furnish the 

 supply of elm lumber and other products in this country. The re- 

 port contains 43 pages of text, tables, and illustrations showing the 

 geographical range of the five species of elm in this country; the 

 estimated stand of this timber in various states; yearly lumber 

 output; amount consumed annually in factories, and its distribu- 

 tion among industries. In addition to this information there are 

 tables which give the strength, hardness, stiffness, weight and 

 other physical properties of the different elms, and in some in- 

 stances these are compared with oak and hickory. 



Five species of elm grow in the United States, listed as follows 

 in the order of their importance: White or gray elm, occurring in 

 most of the eastern half of the country; slippery or red elm, hav- 

 ing nearly the same geographical range as white elm; cork or rock 

 elm, ranging between Tennessee and central Michigan and east- 

 ward to New England and westward to Nebraska. Wing elm and 

 cedar elm are southern trees and are of less importance than the 

 three other elms. 



Hard and rock elm are lumbermen's terms and are generally 

 applied to the wood of cork elm, but sometimes these terms refer 

 to solid, dense wood of any other elm. 



The estimated stand of all the timber in this country is 7,500,- 

 000,000 feet board measure, and of this 5,500,000,000 feet is be- 

 lieved to be white elm. Factories and shops consume about 365,- 

 000,000 feet of this wood annually, and enough is in sight to last 

 about twenty years at this rate of consumption. The supply be- 

 gins to run low in some regions where it was once aljundant, and 

 the total stand in the forests' may be expected to decline steadily 

 until the wild growth in the forests will become very scarce and 

 users of this wood will be obliged to depend upon farm wood lots 

 for elm. 



Thirty-eight states report the use of elm in their shops and 

 factories. The lumber output in 1915 was 210,000,000 feet It^nas 

 456,000,000 in 1899, which figures indicate a decline of moie than 

 ■one-half in twenty-five years. Elm is cut in more than thiit\ 

 states, but one-half of the total is produced in Wisconsin, Michigan 

 Arkansas and Indiana. In 1915 the mills cutting elm lumber nuin 

 bered 2,730. 



Of the total factory use of 365,000,000 feet of elm a >ear b\ 

 thirty-seven industries, 64 per cent goes to the four industius, 

 slack cooperage, boxes, vehicles and furniture. 



The bulletin discusses the stuinpage and cost questioub as fol 

 lows: 



Elm stumpage is new largely bought up by slack cooperage and babktt 

 manufacturers, etc. Factories which can not use other woods in plait 

 of elm can usually afford to pay better prices for it thnn can the lumlu r 

 manufacturers. An average price paid for suit < Im i.ii (In- tniitp l\ 

 factories in southern Michigan would be about sr_' |h i iimnsnil I .iil 

 feet. The logs usually bring from $15 to Slio ai llw i.hImiv In tl 

 lower Mississippi Valley the prices are somewhat luw-i i ii 

 their own timber in that section figure that elm logs :n. . 



per thousand board feet at the mill. This is about «ii. 



anil transport to the mill, allowing tor stumpage only si ..m i . i i 



feet, for which mixed hardwood timber has been imi riLi-. ,1 m il i i j i 



A good quality of elm stumpage, of course, biiu^- !■ li lii-t i li~ni 



depending on quality, amount, accessibility, etc. K<" I. • Im , luiui !,■ i li 

 narlly sells for from $15 to .^20, and at the fa(jlui-.v ih.. lu^s sell foi jIj. ut 

 -1:25 on the average. A high grade of rock elm sells for higher puces fm 

 special purposes. It is reported that as much as $65 per thousand has 

 been paid in southern Michigan for rock-elm stumpage, only choite tre< s 

 here and there being selected. 



Since elm is commonly manufactured into lumber along with othi i 

 woods with which it grows in mixture, the cost of converting it int.. 

 lumber is difficult to ascertain, A theoretical cost can of course b< 

 obtained by subtracting the stumpage value from the mill-run value of 

 the timber at the mill. For instance, subtracting the 1912 value of elm 

 stumpage in Michigan, which Is about $W, from the average mill run value 



—20— 



I' .S25, leaves $16, which repre- 

 board feet, including the lum- 



of soft elm lumber, which is appruxi 

 sents the cost of production per tho 

 her manufacturers' profit. 



Portable sawmills in Michigan generally charge from $4 to $4.50 per 

 thousand board feet for sawing. The lumber produced by these mills, 

 however, is often not well manufactured, and not so valuable for many 

 purposes as that turned out by large stationary mills. There is also 

 usually more waste in the portable mill. 



Side Edger Versus the Gang Edger 



There has been more or less discussion as to the possible saving 

 in value of final product through the use of the side edger rather 

 than the gang edger. It is plain that frequently the gang edger in 

 paralleling the side of the board will cut away so much good mate- 

 rial that the value of the board is considerably lower. 



The accompanying photograph showing a quantity of airplane 

 propeller walnut stacked in tho usual manner merely illustrates the 

 possible damage and loss that might result in the use of the gang 

 edger, especially in this kind of work. 



Airplane stock is graded in the usual way, but in addition must 

 pass tests based upon the cutting according to a certain propeller 

 pattern which is narrower at one end than at the other. The taper- 

 ing board standing in the middle of the stacks illustrates the point 

 in question. Supposing that this board were edged on a gang 

 edger; it would bo the same width for its entire length, that width 

 being equal to the present width at the narrow end. 



Suppose now that the pattern, wider at one end than at the other, 

 is laid onto this board so that the wide end of the pattern is laid 

 at the wide end of the board. The pattern then tapers down evenly 



